Feeding Potential in 2021

Less than a month into 2021, we’re already confronting new challenges, and we’re doing so against the backdrop of the many crises 2020 dealt us — a global pandemic, record-high unemployment, a worldwide reckoning about unjust, systemic racism, and the return of global famine. My hope is that our actions and impact this year will be informed by the fact that despite its many hardships, 2020 proved that we each have the power to help people around the world if we work together.

Last year, corporations, organizations, and individuals alike gave an estimated $20.6 trillion to combat COVID-19’s health, economic, social, and environmental effects; cutting-edge medical research led by researchers and doctors created a vaccine in record time. At PepsiCo, we are humbled to be part of efforts to fight pandemic-driven hunger by delivering 135 million meals to more than 1,000 communities in 60 countries through our nutrition program, Food for Good, through our work with partners including the Global FoodBanking Network and the USDA, and by catalyzing $59 million in additional funding for the cause. We also recognize the importance of providing medical and economic aid to first responders and to people of color disproportionately affected by the disease and are proud to support two organizations that are on the frontlines of these efforts, UnidosUS and the China Women’s Development Foundation. And amid a global pandemic, we furthered our commitment to provide safe water access to people around the globe with a new goal of helping 100 million people by 2030, and continued our partnerships with leading water organizations like WaterAid and the Inter-American Development Bank.

We were also reminded of the pervasive hold that racism has on our society as the world demanded justice for George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks and far too many others. PepsiCo committed more than $570 million to lift up Black and Hispanic communities as part of our Racial Equality Journey. We’ve started deploying these funds for efforts like our community college scholarship program, where we’ve committed more than $40 million to scholarships for students of color.

It is clear that long-term recovery will require Herculean efforts and partnership across all sectors to achieve sustainable solutions. That’s why PepsiCo Inc. and The PepsiCo Foundation will continue our work with leading nonprofits to address food insecurity, to increase safe water access to fight COVID-19, and to support people struggling with economic hardship in the pandemic’s wake. Together, our efforts have the power to not simply bandage up the systemic flaws that COVID-19 exposed, but instead, to rebuild them better than before.

I invite you to follow along with the efforts we’re spearheading with our partners – and know that above all, we’re committed to doing this together.